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February 27, 2013

Borrowed and blue: The flower girl dress

First off, I posted a while back about starting a new series on wedding planning. I asked for readers to comment with names for this series and, although I loved some of them, my good friend Tiffany Farley instantly struck a chord with me when she suggested “Borrowed and Blue”. So friends, this is, hereby, the first official post under the new series name of Borrowed and Blue, where i will be coming to you with lots of wedding planning tips.

Adam and I are in the midst of planning what I think would be considered a shotgun wedding. We got engaged December 21 and we are getting married May 25. We took about a month after getting engaged to relax and enjoy our engagement without wedding stress, so that has left us with about 4 months to plan and execute our entire wedding. And it has been a BLAST! At least for me! I have loooooved deciding on each little element of the wedding and figuring out how we could make the entire look of the wedding cohesive and “us”. It has been all fun and games. That was until we started looking for flower girl dresses. *insert loud sigh*

In the defense of the industry of white taffeta dresses, our task was made slightly more difficult by the fact that my flower girl is my little sister, who is 11. So she’s in that awkward not-a-girl-not-yet-a-woman stage. Cue the Britney Spears soundtrack. And to make matters worse, my sister Bionca insisted that she wear the same color as me. She didn’t want to be in navy blue, like the bridesmaids. She wanted to be a princess. In white. Where is the eye-roll emoji when you need one?

We began looking in the stores. I took her to the mall last week during one of our sister days and she tried on every dress the mall carried in her size. Every. Single. One. And most of them were hideous. It was as though all the failures of Project Runway got together and decided to come up with the worst possible creations for little girls. Taffeta. Satin. Organza. Beads. My God, were there beads. I swear I’m not a bridezilla but dress after dress was just terrible. So I did what any creative bride would do. I decided to SEW her a dress. Yup. Sew it. Myself. When I’ve only ever sewn pillowcases. That, too, was a tremendous failure.

After a few days of feeling like there wasn’t light at the end of the tunnel, I finally started seeing hope. It first came in the form of the J. Crew website. But before we get there, let’s take a look at the flower girl dresses that are floating around in the market right now….

There is nothing WRONG, per say, with these dresses. They are just so…..typical. And they don’t match the vibe of our wedding at all. Like, AT ALL.

So, we started with J. Crew. Immediately I started gaining hope. A few of my favorite dresses from them…

1. The Greyson. I adore this dress. Simple and chic. And I may or may not be obsessed with grey.

2. The Quinn. First off, how could you not love a dress named “Quinn”? Secondly, let’s be honest….this flower girl would be the most stylish one on the planet. And I absolutely adore it in this dusty shale color.

Next I made my way over to Janie and Jack, the store from which I intend on solely dressing my eventual children.

3. Pink Ruffle Knit dress. I love how simple this dress is. It would be perfect for a natural wedding, one in a garden, or one that is a bit rustic.

4. Ribbon Stripe Dress. I love the clean, classic lines in this dress. And I may or may not be slightly obsessed with gross grain ribbon. This dress is a win!

And, lastly, my mom found Monsoon’s website through Pinterest. I used to go into Monsoon when I lived in Denmark but I wasn’t aware that they were in the states. They have GORGEOUS dresses! So lastly….

5. The Gabriella Lace. I love how simple and ethereal this dress is. it also comes in navy!

6. The Britta Stripe. It should come as no surprise by now that I am a lover of all things classic and navy. This dress is no exception. 🙂

7. The Ethel. I’m not a fan of the name “Ethel” but I am definitely a fan of this dress, especially in the pale pink.

9. The Sundae Stripe. At first I was undecided about this dress, but it’s growing on me. It is clean and classic and I’m definitely digging this light teal color that is increasingly popular.

10. Christabel Lace. I’ve recently become a fan of Downton Abbey and this dress reminds me of the feeling I get when watching the show. If it came in adult sizes, I just might have ordered it myself.

So, in conclusion, you may this I’m crazy. And I’m ok with that. I just wanted my darling little sister to look as special as she is and, to me, that wasn’t found at the common stores to shop for flower girl dresses. So I give you some of my favorite alternatives. And one of these is actually the one we chose for her, so I’ll let you, dear readers, take some guesses on which one we chose!! 🙂

My sister had her wedding last summer and she wanted me to find some cute dresses for her flower girls. I discovered some really cute dresses on http://www.persnicketyclothing.com/ that are pretty close to the photos on here. I absolutely loved finding these dresses and dressing up these little girls. It was such a fun and pretty wedding especially with these cute little flower girls.

flora_poste

May 8th, 2013 at 5:28 pm

Did you or any readers happen to find dresses as lovely as these in the $60 and under range? I’ve got two flower girls in my September wedding (ages 10 and 6), but $80+ is a bit much, though I adore every dress you selected!

Jennifer monteath

June 2nd, 2014 at 11:28 am

How do i get information on how to purchase the “Mariana Sequin” flower girl dress? I want it for my wedding and need to order it as soon as possible. Please get back to me! Thank you

Jena Unkle

October 8th, 2014 at 9:12 pm

I just read your article about flower girl dresses. I am also having a very hard time finding dresses for my flower girls. The stores for the dresses seem to be no longer working, do you know of any other sites to find flower girldresses?

Connie

January 5th, 2015 at 2:22 pm

Where to purchase Christabel lace and Mariana Sequin?

Tara

July 31st, 2015 at 4:28 pm

Hi what are the prices for “The Ethel” and how do I purchase?

Sonya blansit

January 11th, 2016 at 6:43 am

I don’t understand are these dresses for sale I am interested in the Mariana sequin I need 3 dresses for our sweet flower girls I need to know your sizes cost of dress and shipping cost. We need them by may

Sonya blansit

January 11th, 2016 at 6:44 am

I don’t understand are these dresses for sale I am interested in the Mariana sequin I need 3 dresses for our sweet flower girls I need to know your sizes cost of dress and shipping cost. We need them by May your dresses are beautiful thank you s